were all on the same
plantation. They were never sold, lived with the same master until they
were set free.

Joe's father was owned by Rube Black, who was very cruel to his slaves,
beat them severely for the least offense. One day he tried to beat Joe's
father, who was a large strong man; he resisted his master and tried to
kill him. After that he never tried to whip him again. However, at the
first opportunity, Rube sold him.

The Robinson family learned the father had been sold to someone down in
Louisiana. They never heard from, or of him, again.

Interviewer's Comment

Mr. Robinson lives with his wife; he receives a pension, which he said
was barely enough for them to live on, and hoped it would be increased.

He attends one of the W.P.A. classes, trying to learn to read and write.

They have two children who live in Chicago.

Submitted January 24, 1938
Indianapolis, Indiana

Federal Writers' Project
of the W.P.A.
District #6
Marion County
Anna Pritchett, 1200 Kentucky Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana

FOLKLORE
MRS. ROSALINE ROGERS--EX-SLAVE--110 YEARS OLD
910 North Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana

Mrs. Rogers was born in South Carolina, in 1827, a slave of Dr. Rice
Rogers, "Mas. Rogers," we called him, was the youngest son of a family
of eleven children. He was so very mean.

Mrs. Rogers was sold and taken to Tennessee at the age of eleven for
$900.00 to a man by the name of Carter. Soon after her arrival at the
Carter plantation, she was resold to a man by the name of Belby Moore
with whom she lived until the beginning of the Civil war.

Men and women were herded into a single cabin, no matter how many there
were. She remembers a time when there were twenty slaves in a small
cabin. There were holes between the logs of the cabin, large enough for
dogs and cats to crawl through. The only means of heat, being a wood
fireplace, which, of course, was used for cooking their food.

The slaves' food was corn cakes, side pork, and beans; seldom any sweets
except molasses.

The slaves were given a pair of shoes at Christmas time and if they were
worn out before summer, they were forced to go barefoot.

Her second master would not buy shoes for his slaves. When they had to
plow, their feet would crack and bleed from walking on the hard clods,
and if one complained, they would be whipped; therefore, very few
complaints were made.

The slaves were allowed to go to their master's church, an